Dispersed among the Gentiles, the Jews were strenuous to preserve
their religion. They raised no temples, for the law prevented this;
there could be but one Jewish temple, that at Jerusalem, where they
celebrated the solemn feasts. But they joined themselves together to
read and comment on the word of God. These places of assembling were
called Synagogues, from a Greek word signifying meetings.
=Destruction of the Temple.=--The Christ appeared at this moment. The
Jews crucified him and persecuted his disciples not only in Judaea but
in every city where they found them in any number. In the year 70 A.D.
Jerusalem, in revolt against the Romans, was taken by assault, and all
the inhabitants were massacred or sold into slavery. The Romans burnt
the temple and carried away the sacred utensils. From that time there
was no longer a centre of the Jewish religion.
=Fortunes of the Jews after the Dispersion.=--The Jewish nation
survived the ruin of its capital. The Jews, scattered throughout the
world, learned to dispense with the temple. They preserved their
sacred books in the Hebrew tongue.
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